


Unexpected Reunion

by enefea



Series: Natsume Week 2016 [2]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 17:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8218393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enefea/pseuds/enefea
Summary: Written for @natsumeweek, day 2Prompt: past/new beginningsJapan was a fairly large country.  Besides, after all this time and with all the relatives he’d stay with, he had never actually met any of them again once he left their care.





	

“Nyanko-sensei!  Stop fooling around!  We’re supposed to be sweeping the yard.”  Natsume said exasperatedly as he looked at the mess of leaves he had piled just minutes before.  It was golden week and Tanuma’s aunt needed extra hands to help around the inn.  The four of them, Tanuma, Nishimura, Kitamoto and him, once again volunteered their services.  Of course, Nyanko-sensei had to come, too.  “What are you doing, anyways?  I hardly think those birds would be able to fill your appetite.”

“Hmph.  You don’t understand, Natsume.  I’m not going to eat them.  My tastes are much more refined than that!”

Natsume rolled his eyes at that, “really?”

“Quiet, you, before I decided not to tell you my plans!”

“And that is?”

“I’m going to catch them and they’ll make me walk on air!”

“You tried that last time and you failed, didn’t you?”

“I only failed because Taki interrupted!  I will walk on air this time!  Besides,” he said, with a sniff, “Touko-san said I might have lost some weight so it’s possible this time.”

“Pft, so you admit you were getting fat!” Natsume said, biting his lip to stop a laugh from escaping.  Nyanko-sensei glared at him before turning around and going to another pile of leaves, swatting it with his paw until it toppled over.

“Gah!  Nyanko-sensei!  That’s-”

“Excuse me?”a voice called out behind.

After sending the cat a glare, he turned and greeted the newcomer.  “Yes?  Is there anything I could help you with?”

The man, looking at a piece of paper, said, “Well… can you tell me how to get to the shrine?  I have a map here, but I swear it’s not making any sense.”

“Sure, let me see-” Natsume began, but the man suddenly looked up at him.  He froze and paled slightly.  The silence that followed was beyond awkward.  “Uhm..”

“You…” the man finally said, looking at him with wide eyes, “you’re Takashi, aren’t you?”

“I-” Natsume took a step back.

“Do you remember me?  I’m-”

“Is there a problem here?” someone suddenly said from behind Natsume.

Surprised, Natsume turned and saw Tanuma eyeing the man coolly.  Nishimura and Kitamoto were at a distance, looking at them with interest, ready to intervene if necessary.

“Uhm, no,” he said, glancing between Tanuma and Natsume, “I was just asking for the directions to the shrine.”

“I see.  It’s a bit far using the normal roads but there’s a shortcut if you go through here.”  Tanuma said, leading the man away from Natsume.  The man looked liked he wanted to argue but Tanuma was acting strangely pushy.  With a sigh, he glanced back at Natsume before following Tanuma through a sidepath cleverly hidden by the inn’s surrounding hedges.

“Are you okay, Natsume?”  Nishimura asked as he approached Natsume.

“Yes.  I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?  You don’t look too well.” Kitamoto observed.

“I’m sure.”

“Who was that anyway?  Someone you know?”  Nishimura asked, which earned him a pointed glare from Kitamoto.

Natsume paused for a moment, “Yeah.  He’s a distant cousin.”  He heaved out a sigh before continuing, “I lived with his family before, before I came to live with Touko-san and Shigeru-san.”

“Oh.”  Nishimura could feel Kitamoto’s glare intensify.

 

* * *

 

Later that night, Natsume found himself staring at the ceiling.  He should be asleep.  The inn had been busy.  There were a lot of guests and, although he hadn’t dealt with them, he had been tired from the various odd jobs given to him.  He should be asleep, but he found it hard to relax.  His mind had been going over the unexpected meeting from this afternoon.  

Letting out a quiet breath, he decided to get some air.  He quietly sneaked out of the room and found his way out to the porch overlooking the  garden.  It was there minutes later that Tanuma found him.

“Couldn’t sleep?”  Tanuma asked as he sat down beside him.

He eyed him briefly before looking back at the garden, “Hm.”

There was silence before Tanuma broke it, “This afternoon.  Was he someone you know?”

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

For a moment, Natsume wanted to decline.  “His family took me in for a while.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.  I was about ten that time, i think.”

“So…”

“Hm?  Oh, they weren’t that bad.  And Akito-san, that’s his name, he was friendly.”  He paused, biting his lip at the memories.  Tanuma stayed quiet.  It was a few minutes before Natsume continued, “But, well, some things happened in school.  It became the talk of the neighborhood.  Akito-san was preparing for high school exams so I got shuffled to the next relative.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“We talked when I helped him to the shrine.  He was… okay.  Well, you did say he was friendly.  He’s here with his circle from university.  He said they were visiting shrines for study.  And…”

“And?”

“He asked about you.”

“...yeah?”

“I think, well...” Tanuma said, hesitating a bit, “I think you should talk to him.”

 

* * *

 

 

When Natsume finally decided to approach his cousin, he was all nerves.  It had been six years since they last met.  And, truth be told, he didn’t honestly think he’d see him again.  Japan was a fairly large country.  Besides, after all this time and with all the relatives he’d stay with, he had never actually met any of them again once he left their care.  

So this encounter was fairly unexpected and had him out of sorts.  Because, really, how does one talk to a person who had to deal with the aftermath of all the weirdness going on around him?  And there was that one major incident in school were a classmate got hurt…  

Thankfully, as if sensing something wrong, Nishimura and Kitamoto kept on distracting him the whole day.  He had a vague feeling Tanuma had something to do with it, but he was grateful nonetheless.

“Natsume, you’re fidgeting.” Nyanko-sensei observed as he looked at Natsume over his tea.  They were back in their room, waiting for Natsume’s cousin to arrive.  Tanuma’s aunt had shooed him off and told him to take a break for the rest of the day after hearing the story that his cousin, who he hadn’t seen in so long, wanted to talk to him.  He wasn’t really sure what Tanuma told his aunt, but he felt like he didn't want to know after catching her subtly wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Natsume flinched.  “ I can’t help it, sensei.”

“This one’s a human.  It’s not like he could eat you.”

“What?”Natsume gaped at the sheer ridiculousness of those words.

“If you’re so worried about it, I could stay here with you.”

“I-,” Natsume blinked, “Thanks, sensei.”

“Hmph.  Whatever.” Nyanko-sensei said as he padded over and settled by Natsume’s side.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, Natsume was once again sweeping the yard.  This time, Nyanko-sensei accompanied Tanuma as they ran errands for Tanuma’s aunt.  

The talk with his cousin was a revelation.  There were a few issues, like the general awkwardness of the situation.  When he tried to apologize for the trouble he had caused, especially at a critical time, Akito-san waved him off, apologizing that they didn’t try hard enough to hear his story.  After that, they talked about trivial things which helped the awkwardness melt away a little.  He was glad to find that Akito-san was still as friendly as ever.  He realized that it was an interesting experience.

“Takashi!”  He turned.  There, near the entrance, was his cousin, along with a few other people his age.

“Akito-san,” he greeted, setting aside his broom and meeting him halfway.  He noticed the bags near the entryway, “You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, we need to get back.  There’s a professor who derives sadistic pleasure in giving out tests after golden week,” he said grimacing.  Natsume couldn’t help it.  He snorted.

“It’s not funny,” he said, a pout almost present in his voice, “he gives out this brain-melting tests that it’s ridiculous.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, uhm,” his cousin paused, fidgeting with the strap of his bag, “you said lived near Yatsuhara, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I told you our circle studies history and folklore, right?”  Natsume nodded.  “Well, there are some interesting accounts regarding that temple and a hidden village or something.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, well, we were thinking of going there this summer.  And…” at this, his cousin hesitated, “if you want, we could meet up and talk again?”

Natsume blinked before smiling softly, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe i wasn’t looking hard enough, but i can’t seem to find the name of the village where Natsume lives, even that village where Matoba stayed in during the arc where he was first introduced. I had no other choice but to use Yatsuhara. Let’s just pretend it’s somehow famous or something. orz


End file.
